Thursday, September 28, 2006

Mina helps celebrate Ben's birthday


Mina was all about Ben's birthday. She "sang" him a birthday song, and even consented to wearing a party hat and sharing her peanut butter with him. It was very cute.

I fixed Ben a nice dinner on his birthday, and on Friday we're going out for sushi at his favorite place, Masu. With the money his family gave him, he bought an effects board which hopefully we will get reimbursed for later by WaferTech as the one he had originally did not make it here. And then he'll have his birthday money back to use on something else... probably more stuff to play guitar loudly ;)


I took yesterday off and went with my friend Martha to the Oregon College of Art and Craft - it was so cool and lunch there was fantastic! We both had lentil and butternut squash soup, olive brean and an autumn salad, and carrot cake for dessert. All homemade, all tasty! Then we stopped by Cornell Farms to look at plants - they had some great stuff, in particular to get design ideas from. Posted by Picasa

Monday, September 25, 2006

Back from the ATL

Back from ATL this week. I think their new logo and re-branding idea is totally dumb and a waste of money. Anyway, I spent last week there for work - getting some "face time" in the office and going to lots of meetings. I always forget how many there are when I'm physically there. Also I stayed with friends and remembered painfully what a commute was. At one point it was 90 minutes....and they live 14 miles from my office.

But it was so worth it, and so much fun to see everyone and reconnect. I was even able to catch up with Jessie and Jason in Chattanooga. I was sick for most of the week, but it didn't really matter - I still spent as much time as I could with folks - hopefully I didn't pass on too many germs.

I am back and now I need to rest - my sense of time is all crazy and I am still not feeling 100%. But work is a little busy today, and Ben's car is in the shop and will be another thousand to repair, I'm sure. I know that used cars are a "better deal" financially than buying something new, but damn I love a warranty. Although I really think Ben should investigate a motorcycle and just keep one car. We shall see.

Friday, September 15, 2006

gardening bits

Check out this little guy - he looked totally happy crawling around one of my roses. I don't know why I am so good with roses - I think it's because they are actually easier than a lot of people think, not because I am all that good. It could also be that this area is known for growing roses...cause food and clipping (I almost said cropping - you can see how ingrained scrapbooking is to my brain!) are about all mine get. And this house has three beautiful rose bushes - pink, white and a gorgeous tangerine one. 2 are climbers and the third is one of those patio-type things, that has a stalk and then sort of a rounded bush on top, like a topiary kind of thing. Anyway, these are also things I enjoy photographing. And these are "easy art" for me - I like showing places we've been or things we've seen at home...and so these will probably end up on my craft room walls...along with the other roses that Ben photographed from the Internat'l Rose Garden in Portland. Love that place!
 Posted by Picasa

first commissioned photograph

My neighbor commissioned me to do this portrait of her husband's Dachsund (sp?). Usually she is camera-shy, but we got out some good treats and she was all about her portrait then!

I think it's one of the better animal photos I've taken. Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Here is a link to another blog I read pretty often...since it's getting to be fall and this is an election year where I HOPE AND PRAY we will take back the Senate and/or House, I am starting to get involved a little more with politics, and I really like the links this blog has to articles and stuff. The links in the URL below are some of the most interesting discussions from a social science standpoint to why so many people who in the 70s and 80s would have been Democrats, are now primarily (and some almost violently so) Republicans...

Deb, I am mostly interested in your response to these - if you have time to read them..

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/09/talking-with-folk-who-hate-you.html

This is the first year I will actually be involved - I have signed up to volunteer with MoveOn.org - Sept 11th, if nothing else, changed the way I think about politics...Sounds silly I guess but the way I feel like I can honor their memory is to become more active in our civic process so that this won't happen again to other innocent Americans.

Monday, September 11, 2006

some layouts I completed over the weekend


Again the pics aren't all that great...

I was stuck in the house all weekend due to a release that I felt like I needed to be on call for. When I wasn't working on that, I was scrapbooking! No better way to spend the time, right?

This LO is a scraplift (almost element for element) of my online friend Vicki Chrisman. Her work is so good! I like how this one turned out. That blurry thing at the bottom right of the photo is a strip of linen that has been inked on one side and tied into a bow. (Using the April 05 kit from ScrapMuse I think)


One of my first LOs that's about Ben...it's using the July 06 kit from ScrapMuse - thought the colors went well with the background of the photo...it's about that 'scoff' look he gives me so often. Like I have just grown three heads....

The final LO about our trip to Seattle - this one is short on photos but I wanted to save some of our memorabilia from that trip - it's funny, we spent 2 days and a night there and I have THREE layouts about it :) What can I say, it was a fun trip! Posted by Picasa

some layouts I did a couple weeks ago


The pics aren't great - this paper is actually purple and not the sickly weird brown color it looks like on my screen...this is one of my neighbors' Dachsunds -cute, but noisy...












Me and Grandma - or "Grandmu" as my sister frequently reminds me...


My mamaw and me - these pics were actually taken in 2005 I think - I made them both layouts and framed them, and decided I wanted to scrap the pics for my albums too. These papers are all from the June kit at ScrapMuse. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, September 09, 2006

a few vacation pics















J's new cat Weezy - a very rambunctious kitten!





















Hiking at Old Forge.
















Ben's fez, a present from his sister. Posted by Picasa

Friday, September 08, 2006

So....

No pics today - something's messed up with my folder that has them - they're still THERE but Picasa can't see them or something. I need some IT help, LOL! Actually I just don't have time to mess with it, so you get an update with no pics.

I signed up for my very first ever art class. It's with the Art and Soul Workshops which are in Portland Oct 4-7 this year and at my neighbor's hotel. He got me a free registration (which is like $45!) so all I pay is the class, and it was kind of expensive (in my opinion) but I'm sure as art classes go, it wasn't all that high. We're making our own mixed media hanging..creation...is the only way I know how to put it. The pic of the example is totally cool and I am hoping mine will turn out similar.... My block in creativity is just letting it FLOW and not talking it or myself down - so hopefully I can branch out and just let myself go and create a beautiful piece that I can actually show in our home. I am TOTALLY STOKED about it!

The weather is much cooler this week and I am LOVING IT. Waking up to 51 degrees outside is AWESOME, particularly when I have the windows open and am sleeping with a blanket. I may need to move Mina's bed from right by the window though - she looks cold in the mornings...maybe she needs a blankie? LOL - I'm crazy..I know...the neighborhood all know us now cause she's the dog always carrying around her plush soccer ball. It helps keep her occupied and not scared of/barking at new people and little kids. I call it her pacifier...cause it works! We had to get a new one b/c I couldn't repair the holes in the last one (plus it had been washed a few times and was just getting tired).

What else - I have been working on a book of Mina for Ben to put on his desk at work - It's actually a fold out purse, but don't tell him - I don't think it looks girly so I think it'll be OK. I have also done several LOs over the past few weeks that I haven't posted, mainly because I haven't had time to take pics of them. Maybe this weekend during a free moment. I am working on a major software release this weekend, so who knows if I'll have a free moment, but maybe I will....

Have a great day!

Friday, September 01, 2006

ATCs

So I'm making these artist trading cards for a swap. And I have been seriously OUT of ideas....like the whole summer...I guess it's because I have never worked on something this small - they're 2.5" by 3.5" - so I finally got an idea last night (yeah, and they're already supposed to be made!), and this pic is part of it...I'm supposed to be pondering the question of life imitating art....I think it's funny...not exactly sure why...perhaps I just have a weird sense of humor...

I will post a pic when I finish - I hope they don't come out totally DUMB. The others that I've already received in the swap are so pretty that I don't want people to be disappointed in mine :) Posted by Picasa